Discovering there is intelligent life beyond our planet could be the most transformative event in human history — but what if scientists decided to collectively ignore evidence suggesting it already happened?
That is the premise of a new book by a top astronomer, who argues that the simplest and best explanation for the highly unusual characteristics of an interstellar object that sped through the solar system in 2017 is that it was alien technology.
Sound kooky? Avi Loeb said the evidence holds otherwise, and is convinced that his peers in the scientific community are so consumed by groupthink they are unwilling to wield Occam’s razor.
Photo: Lotem Loeb / AFP
Loeb’s stellar credentials — he was the longest-serving chair of astronomy at Harvard University, has published hundreds of pioneering papers and has collaborated with greats such as the late Stephen Hawking — make him difficult to dismiss outright.
ARROGANT THINKING
“Thinking that we are unique and special and privileged is arrogant,” he said. “The correct approach is to be modest and say: ‘We’re nothing special, there are lots of other cultures out there, and we just need to find them.’”
Loeb, 58, lays out the argument for the alien origins of the object named ‘Oumuamua — “scout” in Hawaiian — in Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.
In October 2017, astronomers observed an object moving so quickly, it could only have come from another star — the first recorded interstellar interloper.
It did not appear to be an ordinary rock, because after passing around the sun, it sped up and deviated from the expected trajectory, propelled by a mysterious force. This could be easily explained if it was a comet expelling gas and debris — but there was no visible evidence of this “outgassing.”
The traveler also tumbled in a strange way — as inferred by how it became brighter and dimmer in scientists’ telescopes, and it was unusually luminous, possibly suggesting it was made from a bright metal.
In order to explain what happened astronomers had to come up with novel theories, such as it was made of hydrogen ice and would therefore not have visible trails, or that it disintegrated into a dust cloud.
“These ideas that came to explain specific properties of ‘Oumuamua always involve something that we have never seen before,” Loeb said. “If that’s the direction we are taking, then why not contemplate an artificial origin?”
‘Oumuamua was never photographed close-up during its brief sojourn — we only learned of its existence once it was already on its way out of our solar system.
There are two shapes that fit the peculiarities observed — long and thin like a cigar, or flat and round like a pancake, almost razor thin.
Loeb said that simulations favor the latter, and believes the object was deliberately crafted as a light sail propelled by stellar radiation.
Another oddity was the way the object moved — compounding the strangeness of its passage.
A BUOY
Before encountering the sun, ‘Oumuamua was “at rest” relative to nearby stars — statistically very rare. Rather than think of it as a vessel hurtling through space, from the object’s perspective, the solar system slammed into it.
“Perhaps ‘Oumuamua was like a buoy resting in the expanse of the universe,” Loeb wrote.
Like a trip wire left by an intelligent lifeform, waiting to be triggered by a star system.
Loeb’s ideas have placed him at odds with fellow astronomers.
Writing in Forbes, astrophysicist Ethan Siegel called Loeb a “once-respected scientist” who, having failed to convince his peers of his arguments, had taken to pandering to the public.
Loeb, for his part, protests a “culture of bullying” in the academy that punishes those who question orthodoxy — just as Galileo was punished when he proposed the Earth was not the center of the universe.
Compared to speculative yet respected branches of theoretical physics — such as looking for dark matter or multiverses — the search for alien life is a far more commonsense avenue to pursue, he said.
That is why Loeb is pushing for a new branch of astronomy, “space archeology,” to hunt for the biological and technological signatures of alien life.
“If we find evidence for technologies that took a million years to develop, then we can get a shortcut into these technologies; we can employ them on Earth,” Loeb said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese